DONATE Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 761 To amend title 31, United States Code, to allow the heads of certain Executive departments to accept conditional gifts on behalf of Executive depart- ments, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 12, 2019 Mr. ENZI (for himself and Mr. CARPER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To amend title 31, United States Code, to allow the heads of certain Executive departments to accept conditional gifts on behalf of Executive departments, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Donations for Our Na- 4 tion’s Advancement, Transformation, and Enhancement 5 Act’’ or the ‘‘DONATE Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S761.IS S761 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 761 IS SEC. 2. ACCEPTANCE OF CONDITIONAL GIFTS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 13 of 2 title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 3 end the following: 4 ‘‘§ 1356. Acceptance of conditional gifts 5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section— 6 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered conditional gift’ means a 7 conditional gift accepted under subsection (b); and 8 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Executive department’ means— 9 ‘‘(A) the Department of Agriculture; 10 ‘‘(B) the Department of Commerce; 11 ‘‘(C) the Department of Education; 12 ‘‘(D) the Department of Energy; 13 ‘‘(E) the Department of Homeland Secu- 14 rity; 15 ‘‘(F) the Department of Housing and 16 Urban Development; 17 ‘‘(G) the Department of the Interior; 18 ‘‘(H) the Department of Justice; 19 ‘‘(I) the Department of Labor; 20 ‘‘(J) the Department of the Treasury; or 21 ‘‘(K) the Department of Veterans Affairs. 22 ‘‘(b) ACCEPTANCE.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 24 provision of law, and subject to paragraph (2), the 25 head of each Executive department may, at the dis- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S761.IS S761 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 761 IS cretion of the head of the Executive department, ac- 1 cept a conditional gift on behalf of the Executive de- 2 partment if the conditional gift is made— 3 ‘‘(A) in cash; and 4 ‘‘(B) by an individual who is a citizen of 5 the United States. 6 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON ACCEPTANCE.—A condi- 7 tional gift may not be accepted under paragraph (1) 8 if the conditional gift is conditioned upon carrying 9 out any act or purpose that will require an expendi- 10 ture of funds in an amount that exceeds the amount 11 of the conditional gift, unless the expenditure has 12 been approved by an Act of Congress. 13 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON USE.—The principal of and in- 14 come from any covered conditional gift shall be held, in- 15 vested, reinvested, and used in accordance with the condi- 16 tions of the conditional gift, except that the principal of 17 and income from a conditional gift may not be invested 18 or reinvested in a manner in which the principal of or in- 19 come from the conditional gift will accrue interest. 20 ‘‘(d) BUDGET JUSTIFICATIONS.—In the annual 21 budget justification submitted by each Executive depart- 22 ment, the head of the Executive department shall include, 23 with respect to the year preceding the date on which the 24 budget justification is submitted, a statement of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S761.IS S761 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 761 IS ‘‘(1) each covered conditional gift accepted on 1 behalf of the Executive department during the year 2 preceding the date on which the annual budget jus- 3 tification is submitted; 4 ‘‘(2) how each covered conditional gift described 5 in paragraph (1) was used by the Executive depart- 6 ment; and 7 ‘‘(3) as applicable, the account or fund in which 8 the funds from each covered gift described in para- 9 graph (1) are deposited. 10 ‘‘(e) DEFICIT REDUCTION.—If funds from a covered 11 conditional gift remain unexpended after carrying out the 12 conditional act or purpose of the covered conditional gift 13 and are not required to carry out any other conditional 14 act or purpose of the covered conditional gift— 15 ‘‘(1) the head of the Executive department to 16 which the covered conditional gift was made may, at 17 the discretion of the head of the Executive depart- 18 ment, transfer the remaining funds to the Secretary 19 of the Treasury; and 20 ‘‘(2) the Secretary of the Treasury shall— 21 ‘‘(A) deposit any remaining funds trans- 22 ferred under paragraph (1) in the general fund 23 of the Treasury; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S761.IS S761 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 761 IS ‘‘(B) dedicate any remaining funds trans- 1 ferred under paragraph (1) for the sole purpose 2 of deficit reduction. 3 ‘‘(f) CERTAIN INSUFFICIENT CONDITIONAL GIFTS.— 4 If a head of an Executive department accepts a covered 5 conditional gift that is made in an amount that is insuffi- 6 cient to meet the cost of carrying out any conditional act 7 or purpose of the conditional gift, the acceptance shall not 8 obligate the Executive department to expend any funds to 9 carry out the conditional act or purpose.’’. 10 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 11 The table of sections for subchapter III of chapter 13 of 12 title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 13 end the following: 14 ‘‘1356. Acceptance of conditional gifts.’’. SEC. 3. GAO REPORT RELATING TO GIFTS ACCEPTED ON 15 BEHALF OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS. 16 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 17 (1) the term ‘‘Executive department’’ has the 18 meaning given the term in section 101 of title 5, 19 United States Code; and 20 (2) the term ‘‘gift’’ means any conditional or 21 unconditional gift made to an Executive department. 22 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 23 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 24 United States shall submit to the Committee on Homeland 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S761.IS S761 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 761 IS Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 1 Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of Rep- 2 resentatives a report that shall include— 3 (1) with respect to the year preceding the date 4 on which the report is submitted, a statement of— 5 (A) the source of each gift made to the Ex- 6 ecutive department during that period; 7 (B) how each gift described in subpara- 8 graph (A) was, is being, or will be used; and 9 (C) the account or fund in which the funds 10 from each gift described in subparagraph (A) 11 are deposited; 12 (2) a description of the process that each Exec- 13 utive department uses to— 14 (A) manage any gifts made to the Execu- 15 tive department; and 16 (B) ensure that all gifts made to the Exec- 17 utive department are efficiently used; and 18 (3) recommendations for Executive departments 19 relating to enhancing the management and use of 20 any gifts made to Executive departments. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S761.IS S761 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS